Garage door track



Dec. 19, 1950 c. .1. VEIGEL 2,534,641

GARAGE DOOR TRACK Filed July 20, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN VEN TOR.

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6 A non/vs Y6 Dec. 19, 1950 c. J. VEIGEL 2,534,641

GARAGE DOOR TRACK Filed July 20, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 II:: E 1:519.

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61 A R 1m? J VF/fl ATTORN' V6 Patented Dec. 19, 1950 UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE GARAGE DOOR TRACK Application July 20, 1948, Serial No.39,711

3 Claims. (Cl. Iii-94) This invention relates to garage door tracks ofthe type used in connection with doors which are disposed verticallywhen in a closed. position and are moved upwardly and then horizontallytowards the rear of the garage when in an opened position.

One object of the invention is to provide a track having a verticalsection and a horizontal section, the said sections being secured to abracket which is mounted against a vertical beam at a side of the garagedoorway and with which the track sections are so connected that theywill be firmly held in place in operative relation to each other.

Another object of the invention is to provide a bracket having at itslower end a plate to which is secured a transversely extending tongue ofthe vertical track section, thus forming a socket to receive a tongueprojecting downwardly from the lower end of a downwardly curved endportion of the horizontal track section and thus cause the companiontrack sections to be securely held in registering engagement with eachother and allow wheels or rollers of a door to move freely along thetrack from one section to the other.

Another object of the invention is to provide track sections having aslip-joint connection which allows the two track sections to be veryeasily mounted in end to end engagement with each other where they willbe held without the use of bolts which would tend to prevent freemovement of rollers of a door from moving freely along the track.

Another object of the invention is to provide av track having an upperhorizontal section supported by an arm projecting from the upper end ofa vertical standard or bar of the bracket and secured by a bolt whichalso serves as an axle for a pulley about which is trained a load-cableby means of which the door is shifted upwardly to a raised andhorizontally extending opened position above the doorway of the garage.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved track andsupporting bracket which may be formed of angle metal and will be strongbut of light weight.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the improved track and itssupporting bracket mounted in position for use.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary view in elevation of the upper and lower tracksections and the slip joint connection for holding the said tracksections in end to end engagement with each other.

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2 showing the upper track sectionout of engagement with the lower track section.

Figure 4 is a view looking from the right of Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a transverse sectional View taken along the line 55 ofFigure 2.

The door I represents a garage door of the type formed of a suitablenumber of sections 2 which are connected with each other by hinges 3.Such a door is disposed vertically in closing relation to a garagedoorway when closed and is shifted upwardly and inwardly to the rear ofthe garage to a horizontal position above the doorway when in the openedposition. The usual rollers are provided at opposite sides of the doorsections for engaging in tracks at opposite sides of the doorway and itis these tracks and their supporting brackets which constitute thesubject matter of this invention. The tracks are of duplicateconstruction and, therefore, only the track and companion bracket at oneside of the doorway has been shown in the accompanying drawings.

The improved track has a vertical section 4 and a companion horizontalsection 5 which extends longitudinally in the garage above the top ofthe doorway and has its forward portion 5 curved. downwardly and of suchlength that it will rest upon the lower section in end to end engagementtherewith. The metal from which the track sections ar formed areprovided with marginal flanges, thus forming a channeled track alongwhich rollers of the door sections may travel without slipping out ofengagement with the track. The lower end of the vertical track sectionmay be secured in any manner desired.

In order to support the upper end of the Vertical track section and theforward portion of the horizontal track section and hold them in end toend engagement with each other there has been provided a bracketindicated in general by the numeral 5. This bracket has a standard 1formed of angle metal and secured flat against a beam 8 at a side of thegarage doorway by screws 9 which pass through slots Ill formedtransversely of the standard so that the standard may be adjusted wheninstalled and brackets at opposite sides of the doorway disposedperpendicular and parallel to the side edges of the door and alsoparallel to each other. The side flange l of the standard projects fromthe beam 8 inwardly of the garage and plates H and 12 are welded orotherwise firmly secured to side faces of its upper and lower endportions with portions projecting from the outer side edge of theflange. The plate I! is of greater length than the plate I 2 and formsan upper arm for the bracket.

A tongue is cut from the upper portion of the vertical sectiontransversely thereof and is bent so that it is offset outwardly from thetrack section and distance corresponding to the thickness from which thestandard is formed. This tongue overlaps the portion of the lower platewhich projects from the standard in overlapping relation to the tracksection and is welded or otherwise firmly secured to the plate, thusforming a socket I3 which is open at upper and lower ends and forms aportion of a slip joint. A metal strip is firmly mounted against thelower end of the downwardly curved forward portion of the horizontaltrack section and forms a tongue I4 which projects downwardly asufficient distance to pass through the socket l3 when the horizontaltrack section is applied to the vertical track section and hold theirmeeting ends in registering engagement with each other.

A bar of angle metal I5 is welded to the horizontally extending uppertrack section and projects forwardly therefrom across the upper end ofits downwardly curved portion 5. This bar is formed of metal of the samethickness as that used for the standard and the front end portion of itsupstanding flange l5 disposed in overlapping engagement with the arm orplate i l and in abutting engagement with the edge face of the upper endportion of the flange 1 of the standard 'l. A bolt I6 is passed throughthe flange l5 and through the arm II and firmly secures the bar to thearm as Well as serving as an axle for a pulley I! about which is traineda load cable l8. This cable is connected with the door in the usualmanner and after being trained about the pulley I7 is extendedrearwardly of the bar l5 and then trained about a pulley i9 and broughtforwardly and secured to the bar [5 by a bolt 20 or in any other desiredmanner. The yoke 2| in which the pulley I9 is rotatably mounted isconnected with the front end of a spring 22 which exerts rearward pullupon the yoke 2i and thus causes the door to be moved upwardly from itsclosed position when released and then rearwardly to its horizontallydisposed opened position above the doorway. The bar [5 firmly braces theupper track section 5 against longitudinal movement and also prevents itfrom shifting upwardly out of a position disposing its front end at restupon the upper end of the vertical track section 4 and the tongue I4serves to brace the lower end of the upper track section from transversemovement out of a position in which it rests upon the lower tracksection in registering relation thereto.

From the foregoing description of the construction of my improveddevice, the operation thereof and the method of assembly will be readilyunderstood, and it will be seen that I have provided a comparativelysimple, inexpensive and efficient means for carrying out the variousobjects of the invention.

While I have particularly described the ele ments best adapted toperform the functions set forth, it is apparent that various changes inform, proportion and in the minor details of construction may beresorted to, without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of theprinciples of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

l. A garage door track comprising a vertical section, a horizontalsection having a forward 4 portion extending downwardly and at its lowerend resting upon the upper end of the vertical section, a bracket havinga portion adapted to be secured to a support and provided with anoutstanding flange, a plate secured to said flange and projectingoutwardly therefrom, said plate having its projecting portion disposedin overlapping engagement with the vertical track section, a tonguecarried by the upper end portion of the vertical track section andextending transversely thereof and secured in overlapping engagementwith said plate and together therewith defining a socket open at itsupper end, a strip carried by the lower end portion of the downwardlycurved forward portion of the horizontal track section and projectingdownwardly therefrom and engaged in said socket to hold the abuttingends of the said track sections in alignment.

2. A garage door track comprising a vertical track section, a horizontaltrack section having a forward portion curving downwardly and at itslower end resting upon the upper end of the vertical track section, abracket adapted to be secured to a support, means secured to the bracketand to the vertical track section adjacent the top of the vertical tracksection for securing the vertical track section to the bracket andoverlapping the vertical track section and having a portion in spacedrelation to the track section to form a socket therebetween open at itstop, a strip carried by the lower end portion of the downwardly curvedforward portion of the horizontal track section and projectingdownwardly therefrom and engaged in said socket to hold the abuttingends of the track sections in alignment.

3. A garage door track comprising a vertical track section, a horizontaltrack section having a forward portion curving downwardly and at itslower end resting upon the upper end of the vertical track section, avertical bracket extending upwardly beyond the vertical track sectionand adapted to be secured to a support, means permanently secured to thebracket and to the vertical track section for permanently securing thevertical track section to the bracket and overlapping the vertical tracksection and having a portion in spaced relation to the track section toform a socket therebetween open at its top, a strip carried by the lowerend portion of the downwardly curved forward portion of the horizontaltrack section and projecting downwardly therefrom and engaged in saidsocket detachably to hold the abutting ends of the track sections inalignment, a second bracket permanently secured to the horizontal tracksection and extending forwardly beyond the downwardly curving portion ofthe horizontal track section, and means for detachably securing togetherthe upper end of the first bracket and the forward end of the secondbracket.

CLARENCE J. VEIGEL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS m Number Name Date 374,222 Wells Dec. 6, 18871,976,076 Johnson Oct. 9, 1934 2,007,688 McCloud July 9, 1935 2,008,000Brunst et al July 16, 1935

